Thursday, February 20, 2014

Poland is joining the nuclear world

Nuclear power has been around since World War II and led an arms race during the Cold War. Now it has cooled down but many countries still use this power. Poland is now one of these countries. This is not the country's first attempt at gaining nuclear power. During the Cold War era, they had started building their own nuclear power plant in Zarnowiec, but this was shut down when the Communists lost power in 1989. This time, plans are still being made but the location has been narrowed down to two; Zarnowiec where the old power plant is, and Choczewo. The location will be decided by 2016 and construction will start in 2019; it is hoped that the project will be finished by 2024. The plant will be capable of producing 3000 megawatts of electricity and will cost an estimated 40-60 billion zloty ($13-19 billion) to build. There are also plans to build and operate a second plant by 2035.

Poland is just now reentering the nuclear world to find a new source of energy. The country has become too reliant on Russian gas imports and has been pressured to reduce their carbon emissions. Public support for this new energy plant is split. It is reported that citizens of the two possible locations for the plant have supported the project, but polls taken in the country have shown 50% to be in favor, 8% undecided, leaving the rest (42%) against.

It is important to note that Poland is planning to use nuclear power in the form of energy. Nuclear power has been an extremely touchy subject with worries of the harm it can do. I see both the good and bad of using nuclear power and am hesitant whenever it is used. Poland does indeed need the energy they plan on generating and the guidelines set up for these power plants will have to be strict, so I see no problem in letting them build them. If reports are correct, the citizens of the city do support the project and the country as a whole supports more than opposes it. In the end, it really should depend on what the people want, and it seems that they want this.